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This month we've been focusing on clean air. Our first Change The World Wednesday challenge of May asked participants to stop smoking and/or not allow smoking in their homes. So I wondered if "greenies" actually ban smoking from their lives. Here are the results of this month's survey: [image: Smoking and Living Green] [image: Smoking and Living Green] [image: Smoking and Living Green] Comments - I became a smoker when I was about 19 (my hubby at that time was too) but when I became pregnant at 20, I stopped cold turkey. He didn't smoke in the house but did think ...more »

From The London General Gazetteer; Or, Compendious Geographical Dictionary by Richard Brookes, 1838. _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

*This sacrifice of common sense is the certain badge which distinguishes slavery from freedom; for when men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.* Thomas Paine On Tuesday, May 19th voters in Philadelphia sent a message to billionaire venture philanthropists who were trying to buy the office of mayor of Philadelphia to promote their privatization of public schools agenda. By the day of the primary elecction for mayor and other offices they had invested $7 million in advertising for the candidate they thought would car...more »

*"Coffee in Brooklyn," c1920 (click to enlarge). On the flipside of the photo there's a link to Prohibition! Read on.* *by Ken* Of course you know all about "Postcard Thursday" from the *Inside the Apple* team of Michelle and James Nevius, right? Well, they're not the only ones regularly sending out great archival pictures. The Brooklyn Historical Society dips into its overflowing archives for a "Photo of the Week," and for some reason I can't stop looking at this week's, titled "Coffee in Brooklyn." I don't know, maybe it's the coffee-hoisting getup of the gent on the right, fro...more »

*Lunch at a Thai restaurant on the road.* Taiwan: A Vital Partner in East Asia Remarks Susan Thornton Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Remarks at the Brookings Institution Washington, DC May 21, 2015 As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Jeff, for having me here today and for that wonderful introduction. I really appreciate all your support, advice and insight and it's appropriate, of course, to have you here, since much of our good work with Taiwan is built on the foundation you laid.... (READ MORE) Thank you all for coming to an event during the ...more »

I had no idea what to expect when I became a parent (who does?), but I was somehow even more baffled by the balancing act/sh@t show involved in transitioning back to work after parental leave. I’m sure my experience isn’t unique, and I don’t think I was any worse off than other parents or carers, […]

Chris tries to get answers from one of our "captains of industry"... SOURCE BBC NEWS: Osborne says low productivity key economic challenge In his first major speech since his return to the Treasury, Mr Osborne told the CBI annual dinner that boosting productivity was vital to sustaining rises in living standards. He identified increased productivity as one of the government's central

Mohammad Javad Zarif (Minister of Foreign Affairs) criticizes the focus on limiting Iran's "breakout" potential -- the amount of time it would take it to develop a nuclear weapon -- and claims that Iran has long been capable of making a nuclear bomb if it wanted to....but it hasn't. Israel has more than 200 nuclear weapons and refuses to sign the UN's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which Iran has signed. Sadly no western governments ever complain about Israel's bombs.

R. *v.*Kokopenace, 2015 SCC 28: The accused, an Aboriginal man from a First Nation reserve, was charged with second degree murder and convicted of manslaughter after a trial by judge and jury. Prior to sentencing, the accused's counsel learned that there may have been problems with the inclusion of Aboriginal on‑reserve residents on the jury roll for the District of Kenora, which raised questions about the representativeness of the jury in the accused's case. The trial judge refused to adjourn the proceedings to hear a mistrial application, as he considered him...more »

*Martin Chulov, The Guardian*: *Ramadi and Palmyra: 'Whoever didn’t make it out was killed later on by Isis'* *Terror group faced little resistance from local forces in Iraq and Syria, prompting re-evaluations across a region that had sensed it might be in retreat* *Islamic State fighters are celebrating their second major conquest in a week in Syria and Iraq as they pick through the ruins of the historic city of Palmyra.* *The sudden advance of the militants into the UN heritage site in central Syria resulted in the rout of a national army, the exodus of refugees and a fresh pu...more »

I joined the march and rally of hundreds of workers at Bath Iron Works (BIW) today here in Maine during their half-hour lunch break. Even though their union contract is good for another year the company (General Dynamics) boss Fred Harris is sabotaging the collective bargaining agreement and trying to force concessions that fall outside of the union contract. Things like outsourcing of jobs to non-union workers are among the several items in contention. Even though I often join a peace vigil at BIW calling for the conversion of the shipyard I still support the workers right to h...more »

*BIW workers marched today during their lunch time in protest of company head Fred Harris who is attempting to circumvent the union contract in order to cut costs* I joined the march and rally of hundreds of workers at Bath Iron Works (BIW) today here in Maine during their half-hour lunch break. Even though their union contract is good for another year the company (General Dynamics) is sabotaging the collective bargaining agreement and trying to force concessions that fall outside of the union contract. Thing like outsourcing of jobs to non-union workers are among the several ite...more »

Our friends and allies, Geneva Network (UK-based) and Southeast Asia Network for Development (SEANET, Malaysia-based) held a forum yesterday morning in Singapore on the TPP, Health and IPR. Background of the forum: *This week, trade negotiators from some of the world’s most powerful economies are meeting in Guam to thrash out the final stages of the Trans Pacific Partnership. This free trade agreement – which in Asia includes Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam and Brunei – stands to become a significant milestone in the deeper integration of the global economy.* *Despite the ...more »

"What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend political boundaries and occur in practically every human society. Above, Matt Harding traveled through many nations on Earth, started dancing, and filmed the result. The video is perhaps a dramatic example that humans from all over planet Earth feel a common bond as part of a single species. Happiness is frequently contagious - few people are able to watch the above video without smiling." - http://apod.nasa.gov...more »

*Reuters*: *Islamic State says it has full control of Syria's Palmyra* *Islamic State fighters tightened their grip on the historic Syrian city of Palmyra on Thursday and overran Iraqi government defenses east of Ramadi, the provincial capital that they seized five days earlier.The twin successes not only pile pressure on Damascus and Baghdad but throw doubt on a U.S. strategy of relying almost exclusively on air strikes to support the fight against Islamic State.U.S. and coalition forces had conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq since Wednesd...more »

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Obama at the White House in October. Credit Kevin Lamarque/Reuters *Bloomberg:* *U.S. in $1.9 Billion Arms Sale to Israel Amid Iran Deal Concerns* *The U.S. has approved a $1.9 billion arms sale to Israel that analysts say is likely intended to offset its objections to the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran.* *The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Wednesday on its website that the deal had received State Department authorization and will now be sent to Congress for review, where it is certain to be appr...more »

“Would the Rosette Nebula by any other name look as sweet? The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 doesn't appear to diminish the appearance of this flowery emission nebula. Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of bright young stars designated NGC 2244. These stars formed about four million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are clearing a hole in the nebula's center, insulated by a layer of dust and hot gas. *Click image for larger size.* Ultraviolet light from the hot cluster stars causes the surrounding nebula to glow. The Rosette Nebula ...more »

"Heaven and Hell" by Paulo Coelho "A man, his horse and his dog were traveling down a road. When they were passing by a gigantic tree, a bolt of lightning struck and they all fell dead on the spot. But the man did not realize that he had already left this world, so he went on walking with his two animals; sometimes the dead take time to understand their new condition… The journey was very long, uphill, the sun was strong and they were covered in sweat and very thirsty. They were desperately in need of water. At a bend in the road they spotted a magnificent gateway, all in marble, w...more »

*“A Universe Stranger Than We Can’t Imagine”* By Mark Thompson "Ever looked up at the night sky and wondered: What *is* up there? Like your ancestors before you, you would be mistaken if you thought that it's just the Earth down here and the stars up there. Instead, the night sky encompasses everything that is, or ever was, in the Universe. You see, the really wacky thing about looking up at the sky is that you are not just looking into the depths of space, but also into the depths of time. Let me explain. Light travels at about 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per seco...more »

*"In the Cave"* by Chet Raymo "I have mentioned here before the ospreys that patrol our beach - or "fish hawks," as they call them here - generally in the afternoon at about the time I take my long walk to the palm point. Magnificent birds with broad wings that glide seemingly effortlessly on the wind. And here's the thing: As often as not I am startled by a bird's shadow before I see the bird itself. That wide-winged shadow, sweeping across the white sand, sometimes across me. That flicker of chill as the osprey blocks the sun. And generally when it happens I think of Plato's all...more »

*"The Sane Society"* by Erich Fromm "Social psychologist Erich Fromm’s seminal exploration of the profound ills of modern society, and how best to overcome them. One of Fromm’s main interests was to analyze social systems and their impact on the mental health of the individual. In this study, he reaches further and asks: “Can a society be sick?” He finds that it can, arguing that Western culture is immersed in a “pathology of normalcy” that affects the mental health of individuals." *Freely download, in PDF format, here:* - http://proventustrade.eu/uncategorized/the-sane-society-3....more »

*This photo appears to have been taken moments after a secret agent (right) has injected an enemy agent (left) with a deadly toxin that even now is coursing through his veins, causing . . . oh wait, it's just President Obama glad-handing Chief Justice "Smirkin' John" Roberts.* *"Playing chicken with the Justices only works if it works."* -- The New Yorker*'s Jeffrey Toobin, in* "Obama's Game of Chicken with the Supreme Court" *by Ken* As DWT readers surely know by now, Obamacare is on trial for its life (as I wrote in early March, "Our clown Supreme Court takes on the bogus challeng...more »

*"The Inertia of 'Normalcy'"* by Rhetoricism "What is normal? Normal is yesterday, last week and last month and last year, blended together to create a puree of what we assume is the world and the way it works. Even if last week, or last month, are changed, the brain is easily persuaded; to forget, that last year, last decade, is truly normal. Normal isn't a single, cohesive thought, it's a conglomeration of experiences and suspicions, and someone found out how to trim the parts of it that were still getting settled. What an -absolute- bastard. The trouble is, that bastard isn't r...more »

...people are too smart to fall for the small ones. New Brunswick's Liberal government wants to privatize more of our government services, like health care. The reason is the old one, privatization will make it cheaper and more efficient. Sure. That's why the US has such a wonderfully cheap and efficient health system. Our Florence Nightingale will, I suppose be one or more of the Irvings. Oh, those Irvings. They just give and give.... Just about all the developed world long ago came to the conclusion that government operation of medicare is the cheapest and most effective way to g...more »

No, this isn’t what you think. It was something that I noticed in a Billy Cox column which addressed Tom Carey’s appearance at the American University. Cox was discussing the purpose of the panel discussion and interviewed adjunct professor John Weiskopf who asked his honors students to consider the impact of ET themes Display in the International Museum and Research Center in Roswell.on popular culture. Cox wanted to know if he had any regrets about asking Carey to appear. That started a discussion about Carey and his revelation about the Roswell Slides at the discussion and also re...more »

*Isaac Davis* - More of the world's youth will called to duty by the traitors and cowards who make peace an impossibility. The post Special Forces Veteran Tells the Truth About Joining the Military appeared first on Waking Times.

*"Dark Night of the Soul: Surrendering the Ego"* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM "While we are in a dark night of the soul experience, hold steady knowing the light will appear once again. Whenever a word is overused, it is most likely being misused, and over time, it begins to lose its meaningfulness. For example, we often refer to a fleeting feeling of depression or a period of confusion, as a dark night of the soul, but neither of these things qualifies as such. A dark night of the soul is a very specific experience that some people encounter on their spiritual journeys. There are...more »

Political science exploded in the news as a grad student and senior prof wrote a piece that made big news and then was revealed (allegedly, apparently, insert legal modifier here) to be fradulent.* * Indeed, I need to insert a caveat here–I have read the retraction letter and related materials but not the original article […]

Reuters/The Atlantic *The Hill*: *Obama has 'personal interest' in preventing nuclear Iran* *President Obama, in an interview published Thursday, says he has a "personal interest" in making sure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.* *“Look, 20 years from now, I’m still going to be around, God willing. If Iran has a nuclear weapon, it’s my name on this,” Obama told The Atlantic, referring to the pending nuclear deal between Tehran, Washington and five other Western powers.* *"I think it’s fair to say that in addition to our profound national security interests, I have a personal...more »

This is mainly a blog about BBC bias, but our sub-title is "...and any other matters that take our fancy", which gives us the freedom to digress from time to time. Unfortunately, my focus on BBC bias matters usually makes me forget to post stuff on the "any other matters" front. Or even to watch stuff I might actually enjoy but which isn't liable to be full of BBC bias. For example, until this week, I'd completely missed a fabulous piece of BBC broadcasting first broadcast in 2013. (A repeat broadcast on BBC Four rescued me). It was hosted by a presenter I've mentioned before, i...more »

*“America: Are We Really Gangsters?”* By Gordon Duff "It is one thing if you can’t ask a kindergarten teacher about world affairs or politics. In America, you can’t ask members of congress, military leaders or even our president. You certainly can’t ask the majority of members of what we still call “the press.” All you get is silliness, stories that they don’t even know where they come from. With few exceptions American leaders are nuts. It isn’t as though we didn’t always have plots and secrets. There were always questions, “Who blew up the USS Maine?” and “Did Roosevelt know abo...more »

*"It's a Felony To Use Some Drugs, But Robbing Trillions Is Ok"* by Karl Denninger "Yeah... Six of the biggest names in finance have agreed to pay nearly $6 billion dollars in penalties, with five pleading guilty to criminal charges over long-running manipulation of key financial markets.The Justice Department announced the massive settlement Wednesday, its latest in a series of deals to bring to a close probes of financial manipulation of everything from benchmark interest rates to top currency exchanges. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the latest settlement brings to an end ...more »

*New York Times:* *Obama Defends Approach to ISIS Fight but Says More Is Needed* *WASHINGTON — President Obama denied that the United States and its allies were losing the fight against Islamic State forces in the Middle East, but he acknowledged in an interview posted online on Thursday that more should be done to help Iraqis recapture lost territory.* *While repeating his refusal to commit large-scale American forces to the region, the president said Sunni fighters in Iraq needed more commitment and training to take on fellow Sunnis aligned with the Islamic State. But he offer...more »

Reuters/The Atlantic *Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic*:* 'Look ... It's My Name on This': Obama Defends the Iran Nuclear Deal* In an interview, the U.S. president ties his legacy to a pact with Tehran, argues ISIS is not winning, warns Saudi Arabia not to pursue a nuclear-weapons program, and anguishes about Israel. On Tuesday afternoon, as President Obama was bringing an occasionally contentious but often illuminating hour-long conversation about the Middle East to an end, I brought up a persistent worry. “A majority of American Jews want to support the Iran deal,” I said, “but a ...more »

A Patriot anti-missile system (Reuters) *Washington Post:** Ukraine says it wants a missile shield to protect against Russian aggression* *MOSCOW — Ukraine wants a nuclear missile shield, according to the country’s security chief, something that would almost certainly provoke an aggressive response from Russia.* *Ukraine is “rebuilding our ­missile shield, the main task of which is to defend against aggression from Russia,” Oleksandr Turchynov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Wednesday in an interview published by the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinfo...more »

Over the years I have received many questions about hemp in Bolivia. Most from well meaning people, but they are not serious enough to go to the seed cultivators with the data they need to get the right seeds - for instance, the day/night differential in weather for a certain area. Recently a more serious enquirer, who is hooked up to a Canadian university, showed deeper interest and is now at the stage of approaching Bolivian government officials, although he is not sure yet if it is lumped in with marijuana, as it has been in the US and elsewhere. Chile is growing hemp profitab...more »

True story: I had a telephone conversation with my 82-year old dad soon after I got in from work tonight. During it he got onto one of his hobby-horses: He thinks Melvyn Bragg's *In Our Time *is the most boring programme ever put out by the BBC. I'll roughly translate what he said from broad Lancashire into 'RB' (Received Bloggerspeak), for the benefit of any soft southerners out there: Who's that one you like? Er, the boring one, the one who comes from the Lakes? He was going on this morning about someone no-one's ever heard of, who was born in 30 AD! Who in their right mind wo...more »

*"A Vision of Monetary Hell Troubles Our Sleep…"* by Bill Bonner Medellín, Colombia - "A vision of Hell troubles our sleep. It is the vision of what the United States will be like when the authorities have obliterated almost three millennia of monetary progress and have their boots on our necks. Here’s Peter Bofinger, a leading German Keynesian economist, in Der Spiegel magazine: "With today’s technical possibilities, coins and notes are in fact an anachronism. They made payments incredibly difficult, with people wasting all sorts of time at the cashier as they wait for the person...more »

Pro-Russian rebels take their positions on a street, during what the rebels said was an anti-terrorist drill in Donetsk, March 18, 2015. *Reuters*: *Ukraine reports fresh casualties in east, OSCE sees violence spreading* *One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and eight wounded in fresh separatist attacks, the military said in Kiev on Thursday, as the OSCE security watchdog warned of a "worrisome" spread of violence in eastern Ukraine.* *Fighting has lessened significantly since a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels was declared in mid-February, but bot...more »

Behold, the forces of progress and socialism were caught napping as No voters in tomorrow's equal marriage referendum in the Irish Republic take to the streets in the latest protest apparel: the oven glove.

*Oil spill off Santa Barbara coast (Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) * *by Gaius Publius* Thoreau once wrote, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us." The full quote is: We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us. Did you ever think what those sleepers are that underlie the railroad? Each one is a man…. The rails are laid on them, and they are covered with sand, and the cars run smoothly over them. They are sound sleepers, I assure you. And every few years a new lot is laid down and run over; so that, if some have the pleasure of riding on a rail, ...more »

*MINA*: *Chaos in Kiev as Anti-Government Protest turns Violent* *Clashes are reported in central Kiev where crowds of protesters are rallying against the economic crisis and the soaring cost of private loans. Local media say several people have tried to break into the Ukrainian parliament. The protesters have clashed with police and blocked the entrances to the parliament building.* *The so-called "Financial Maidan" crowd is demanding that the parliament approves the law on restructuring private loans in foreign currency, which would convert people's debts into national currency...more »

There's more on BBC complaints over at BBC Watch - this time concerning Tim Willcox and his remark to the daughter of a Holocaust survivor during the post-*Charlie Hebdo *rally in Paris: "Many critics though of Israel's policy would suggest that the Palestinians suffer hugely at Jewish hands as well". The BBC’s Head of Editorial Complaints, Fraser Steel, has updated his earlier responses by conceding that he misunderstood the actual point that critics of Tim Willcox were making, but that it still doesn't make any difference to his preliminary findings. The original verdict stand...more »

Israeli soldiers walk near mobile artillery units near the border with Syria in the Golan Heights on January 27, 2015. REUTERS/Baz Ratner *IBTimes*: *ISIS Approaches Israel: Islamic State Loyalists Thwarted By Syrian Rebels Along Golan Heights Border* *Islamic State loyalists in Syria have made attempts in recent weeks to expand the extremist group’s territory near the border with Israel, but have been twice thwarted by Syrian rebels along the Golan Heights. Israel has not yet responded to the incidents, even as mortar shells from the battles with ISIS fighters landed across the b...more »

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 21, 2015. (Reuters) *Bloomberg:* *Iraqi Premier Meets Putin as Islamic State Threat Grows* *Russian President Vladimir Putin began talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Moscow on Thursday as accelerating gains by Islamic State pose a growing threat in the Middle East.* *Abadi told Putin he hoped his visit to Russia would help the fight against terrorism in Iraq and in the region. Islamic State militants last week seize...more »

"It is within our guidelines for experienced correspondents to give their honest opinion, provided this is approached without any preconceived view", says the BBC. Is *this* fully acceptable to the BBC then?: Is there any other place in the world where your race determines whether you're allowed on a bus ? http://t.co/0uPl4hcEsG #Israel #palestine — Jon Donnison (@jondonnisonbbc) May 20, 2015 *P.S. *Jon's BBC colleague Jeremy Bowen has broken his Twitter silence after nearly a month. To tweet about the fall of Palmyra to Islamic State? No, of course not. Like JonDon, he's tweetin...more »

Here's a complaint that was sent to the BBC nearly a month ago: Please can you explain why it's acceptable for a senior BBC reporter to tweet praise for a party leader during a general election? Allegra Stratton, tweeting as @BBCAllegra, said on April 24th that Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru was "a very admirably modest politician". That endorsement from the BBC cannot but help Plaid. Are BBC reporters who use the BBC's name in their Twitter handle allowed to say things like this? Are tweets governed by BBC editorial guidelines on impartiality? Really enjoyed interviewing @LeanneWood ...more »

The U.S. Capitol Building is pictured in Washington, February 27, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed *Washington Post*:* How Republicans hope to turn Islamic State into a problem for Democrats* *DES MOINES — One by one, nearly a dozen GOP presidential hopefuls took the stage here last weekend for a Lincoln Dinner, each different in style and stature but all joining a rising Republican chorus that lays blame for the Islamic State terrorist group squarely at the feet of President Obama.* *“If you fought in Iraq, it worked. It’s not your fault it’s going to hell. It’s Obama’s fault,” Sen. Lin...more »

In yet another display of the total Jewish domination of American politics, particularly at the highest levels, the Jewish billionaire and media mogul Haim Saban openly stated in an interview with *The Jerusalem Post* that Hillary Clinton would be an ideal president for Israel. *United States led by Hillary Clinton would be “great” for Israel*, Haim Saban said in an exclusive interview with *The Jerusalem Post*. In the interview, which will be published as part of the newspaper’s annual ranking of the *Top 50 most influential Jews* in the world, Saban declined to provide specifics ...more »

Political Economy from the Zapatista Communities II Words of Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés. May 5, 2015 English, Italian, Spanish Good afternoon to everyone, compañeras, compañeros, brothers and sisters. In response to what we have been listening to yesterday, and the day before, we have been commenting in the commission of compañeros and compañeras of the CCRI, that it seems to us

*Anna Hunt - *Here are a couple recipes for my favorite probiotic drinks: kvass and Kombucha. These two are a bit simpler than making your own yogurt and do not require the use of dairy. The post Two Easy-to-Make Probiotic Drinks That Heal the Gut appeared first on Waking Times.

UN Denounces the Criminalization of Indigenous Community Radios in Guatemala Translated from RIDH | Panorama diplomático Read Cultural Survival's Shadow Report on Guatemala to CERD By Cultural Survival On May 15, 2015, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) denounced the criminalization of Indigenous community radio stations in Guatemala, after

so, here in UK or the United Kingdom or England anyway thanks to decades of historical findings and publications, we mostly consider ourselves to be an Anglo-Saxon race or having been fathered/ruled by those foreign sea-farers who came over from the French-German border in the sixth century. *British history begins with the arrival of the great fleets of Albyne around 1600 BC (3600 years ago) and the later arrival of Brutus and his armadas around 500 BC (2500 years ago). The histories of Albyne, of Brutus and the entire Arthurian Dynasty were finally consigned to limbo around 1840-...more »

Luis Figo has pulled out of the FIFA Presidential election. He's not happy, here's an extract: '... this electoral process is anything but an election.This (election) process is a plebiscite for the delivery of absolute power to one man - something I refuse to go along with.' More here https://m.facebook.com/luisfigoofficial/posts/445188365606327 All the European Football Associations and any others that believe in democracy should leave FIFA and start their own association.

One would never know that from all the AGW hype and computer models that simply haven't panned out- This information was come by the hard way- *Real world data was gathered over a period of time.* Considering how dam cold the past few years have been in most of the North American continent alongside many other areas of the globe this seems a timely article *Digression begins: *It’s late May here and guess what? Other then a few warm days in a row, *our temperatures have been mostly below normal for this time of year. *To date we’ve planted our cool weather plants, but, nothing that...more »

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper returns today to Quebec, a province where his party hopes to make major gains in this fall's election. And he's being honoured by a community which holds considerable sway over whether those gains will include a seat in Montreal. The riding of Mount Royal is up for grabs this fall with Liberal MP Irwin Cotler stepping down. About 30 per cent of the riding identified as Jewish in the last census — making the electoral district one of only a handful in the country where that community can swing an election if it votes en masse. The Liberals ...more »

*Christina Sarich* - A class action lawsuit has been filed in Los Angeles County, California against biotechnology giant Monsanto. The post Major Lawsuit Targets Monsanto for Selling Cancer-Linked Herbicide appeared first on Waking Times.

Birch, Douglas (2015, May 13) Former Energy Department official wins huge pay raise after moving to firm with deep ties to DOE. His new employer is seeking a $2 billion loan guarantee from his former employer, and he’s already chatting about the company with officials at a DOE lab. Center for Public Integrity, http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/05/13/17265/former-energy-department-official-wins-huge-pay-raise-after-moving-firm-deep-ties [excerpted] Five months after Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman resigned and left the department’s Forrestal Building in Washington, he s...more »

Alpine Stone Homes (not where I am at)By American Kabuki May 21, 2015 I've been living in this gorgeous location in the Alps. The building I live is probably at least 200 years old, stone, in the Chalet style common in the alps that takes advantage of the insulating factor a layer of thick snow gives a house. The stairs are narrow and steep and of dry hardwoods. Yet its the stone and look that gives some undefinable link to an older time, perhaps an earlier life of mine on this planet, and I think I have been here a very very long time. This is celtic region of Italy known as Ao...more »

*THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015Part 4—The gang that wouldn’t report straight:* Did an employee of the New England Patriots under-inflate some footballs in violation of NFL rules? It’s possible! Pretty much everything is. That said, we can’t say we see much evidence that this offence occurred. We say that because we’ve read the NFL’s official report on this subject, the Wells report. Did a Patriots’ employee under-inflate some footballs? It’s still a possibility! But the Wells report reveals the NFL as the organization that can’t function straight—and as an organization that can’t seem to...more »

Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province in Syria, June 30, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer *Wall Street Journal*: *After Ramadi, U.S. and Allies Face Dilemma in Fight Against Islamic State* *Three options: carry on, escalate or quit fight against militant group* *The fall of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s largest province, has bared the weaknesses in the American strategy against Islamic State.* *Evaluating how to respond, the U.S. and Western allies face three potential paths—to keep going with the current approach, to double ...more »

*Reuters*: *Gaddafi's home town falls to Islamic State in anarchic Libya* *SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Standing guard at his frontline post, Libyan soldier Mohammed Abu Shager can see where Islamic State militants are holed up with their heavy weaponry less than a kilometer away.* *The militants have effectively taken over former dictator Muammar Gaddafi's home city of Sirte as they exploit a civil war between two rival governments to expand in North Africa.* *"Every night they open fire on us," said Abu Shebar, who with comrades on Sirte's western outskirts holds the last position o...more »

Yes, I have been off the last few days taking care of some personal and family business (again)... And as usual in my travels, I have been in my local coffee shop spending time with friends and colleagues discussing many issues of the day.... Of course just the other day while sitting there drinking my usual Tim Horton's "double double" (most Canadians know what this is, but for others its coffee with two sugars and two creams) I listened to a colleague discuss first sports, and then family, and finally turning to the crooks in our Canadian government and world events... I was again...more »

University of Hawai'i Professor Hector Valenzuela has been harassed, insulted, humiliated and silenced by the University for questioning chemically intensive agriculture and the science behind GMOs and for supporting organic, sustainable agriculture. In public, or in private emails, Valenzuela says that his superiors called him a “jihadist,” a “liar,” “worthless,” and, as in an email from a university administrator, a “nutjob.” Valenzuela said he was the only member in his department who wanted the university to teach “farmers how to sustain crops without having to rely on chemica...more »

It is so sad to watch the American nation in steep decline... Right now, the US Government is in desperation as they search for methods of getting the American nation into a new war anywhere across the globe just to save the United States from economic collapse... Their thinking is that if America fights a regional or even global war, it will create new jobs, and somehow boost the American economy... They care little that such a war could lead to nuclear war and the resultant total destruction of the United States itself... That is bad enough, but with economic decline, many America...more »

The fall of Ramadi in Iraq’s Anbar province sent shockwaves through the country and the west. The fact that a large government force fell to a smaller attacking one of the Islamic State (IS) recalled memories of Mosul being seized in June 2014. Talk of sleeper cells and infiltrators amongst the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) made it seem like there were traitors in the midst. The real cause of IS being able to take the city however was the degraded forces that were protecting it, and the tactics used by the insurgents. May 17, 2015 Anbar’s provincial capital of Ramadi fell to the Isl...more »

Posted: 5/18/2015 * by Barbara Loe Fisher* *To activate and view hyperlinked references, please click here once and then click any superscripted number below to access a hyperlinked reference, or scroll down to the bottom of the article to view all hyperlinked references.* Vaccine risks for you or your child can range from zero to 100 percent depending upon the genes you were born with; your microbiome DNA; the environment you live in; your age and health at the time of vaccination, and the type and how many vaccines you get. 1 2 Vaccines are not safe or effective for everyone...more »

Phony smile on phony politician There's been a lot of chatter that WA-08 incumbent Dave Reichert would abandon his congressional seat to run for governor against Jay Inslee. Although his name recognition is a healthy 53%, a new poll from PPP shows him scoring only 34% against Inslee's 45%. However, some of the other questions in the poll should give Republicans-- both in Washington and nationally-- more cause for concern. Support for *de rigueur* Republican positions is crumbling. And the crumbling support isn't just among normal voters; even Republicans are backing away from crackp...more »

*FOX News*:* ISIS controls 50 percent of Syria after takeover of Palmyra, activists say* *The Islamic State terror group now controls over half of Syrian territory after seizing the village and archaeological site of Palmyra Thursday, activists monitoring Syria's civil war said.* *Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the Associated Press the extremists overran the archaeological site, just to the southwest of the modern settlement on Palmyra, shortly after midnight local time.* *In Damascus, state TV acknowledged that pro-government force...more »

News that you won't find reported on the institutionally anti Israel BBC. 'The military wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday evening that a fighter affiliated to the group had been killed in a tunnel collapse in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. Al-Qassam Brigades identified the fighter as 25-year-old Mahmoud Adel Ghaban from Beit Lahiya. A number of fighters in Gaza have been killed by accidents during military training exercises in recent years, and the tunnel networks, which are largely used for smuggling in the coastal enclave's south and military purposes in...more »

The UK Payments Council today stated that the use of cash by consumers, businesses and financial organisations fell to 48% of payments last year. This means that cashless payments have overtaken cash payments for the first time in the UK. The cash volumes are expected to fall further by 30% to some 34% over the next 10 years. It is claimed that 4.4% of adults ‘rarely use cash and the average ATM withdraw has fallen to £67. The previous cashless payment by cheque has dropped to just 1% of consumer payments whereas Debit card payments have now become universally accepted and account...more »

*CNN*: *Exclusive: China warns U.S. surveillance plane* *Above the South China Sea (CNN)The Chinese navy issued warnings eight times as a U.S. surveillance plane on Wednesday swooped over islands that Beijing is using to extend its zone of influence.* *The series of man-made islands and the massive Chinese military build-up on them have alarmed the Pentagon, which is carrying out the surveillance flights in order to make clear the U.S. does not recognize China's territorial claims. The militarized islands have also alarmed America's regional allies.* *Former CIA Deputy Director ...more »

If the news story was that Israeli Shelling Hits Palestinian Aid Office, Kills 5 Refugees, Injures 10, then the institutionally anti Israel BBC would be headlining the story, the anti Israel United Nations would be proposing resolutions and the human rights groups would be screaming their disapproval and marching on Israeli embassies. However the story is actually that: 'Shelling from Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces hit an international humanitarian aid office in Yemen on Thursday, killing five Ethiopian refugees and wounding 10, a local official said. The news comes amid grow...more »

*Parents furious over school’s plan to teach gender spectrum, fluidity* Todd Starnes One of the nation’s largest public school systems is preparing to include gender identity to its classroom curriculum, including lessons on sexual fluidity and spectrum – the idea that there’s no such thing as 100 percent boys or 100 percent girls. Fairfax County Public Schools released a report recommending changes to their family life curriculum for grades 7 through 12. The changes, which critics call radical gender ideology, will be formally introduced next week. “The larger picture is this is ...more »

I mostly stopped listening to Rush Limbaugh when he went cold turkey. Love him or hate him he was extremely skilled at making nonsense credible and intellectually entertaining. I had never heard Micheal Savage before this week. Certainly I had heard about him. Calling him a right wing version of Rush Limbaugh is an understatement. Savage is a complicated character, smarter and more compelling than Rush but lacking the humour. They share an absurd Randian view of the world that is a proven failure. Also in common the belief that Gays, Feminists and Hippies have runied the world. ...more »

*Suspended.* The wreckage of someone who was once Shih Ming-teh, former political prisoner, former DPP Chairman, and KMT tool, intentional or not, is back to rescue Taiwan. WantWant's story on his announcement of his presidential candidacy is excellent: Always a provocative and divisive figure, Shih periodically pops up to grab headlines but no longer commands a significant amount of support or respect. Shih will only get a handful of votes, but he might collect some cash. Solidarity.tw points out his problem: But he won’t make it to the ballot at all unless the KMT itself holds a...more »

*Greenhouse theory* By Carl Brehmer Is not the whole “greenhouse effect” hypothesis farrago based on “thought experiments” and “proxy experiments”, e.g., John Tyndall’s apparatus in which he tested the opacity of carbonic acid gas at 80,000 ppm and then projected the results of that experiment onto the greater atmosphere without doing even one experiment on the behavior of “greenhouse gases” in the open atmosphere; Svante Arrhenius’ postulation about the effect of carbon dioxide on the temperature of the atmosphere was a mathematical “thought experiment” since he did not himself ...more »

http://www.opednews.com/ From the beginning, everything Stephen Harper has done has had one objective: to rig the game in his favour. His latest foray is his attempt to legislatively re-write history. Steve Sullivan writes: So far, Harper has limited himself to offending democracy and the law. Now he’s re-writing history. Buried in his government’s latest omnibus budget bill is an amendment to the Access to Information Act which denies people the opportunity to make access to information requests for data from the defunct long gun r...more »

One of the biggest hits of the travel basket I put together for our long road trip, was the silly faces board. My daughter loved dressing up the faces with mustaches, google eyes and most of all drawing of the faces with a dry erase markers. I printed a bunch of different 5x7s, pretty much anybody that I had close head shots of, so she had pictures of her parents, grandparents and some of her aunts and uncles to play around with. She loved having the variety of people. If you don't already have a stash of pictures, just take a close up picture of each person you want to include an...more »

The Zealots of Genetic Engineering: “[Biotech] Scientists are like priests. This is being pushed as an ideology,” says Ignacio Chapela, Microbial Ecologist and Mycologist, University of California, Berkeley. Initially, he said scientists were excited about the possibility of “mixing and matching” traits in different species. “Some said let’s find the genes for wings and put them in pigs so they could fly,” he said. “The whole foundation of genetics turns out to be wrong. Eye color is not determined by a single gene. DNA is not a master molecule. We have the benefit of 40 years [o...more »

It might as well be the USA PATRIOT Act served up in a piping hot Brie cheese smothered crock as the frogs have utilized the Rahm Emanuel maxim of never letting *"a good crisis go to waste”*. The French government – the descendant of the one that surrendered to the Nazis – used January’s assassination of several staff members of the sleazy anti-Muslim rag Charlie Hebdo as well as two cops to ram through a new total surveillance law that would do the Gestapo proud. Alexis de Tocqueville must be rolling over in his grave today as his home country is now serving as an inspiration on a...more »

With the rock solid fact that liberals are fools and suckers already established after they lined up to buy the snake oil of “hope” and “change” peddled by Barack Obama it is not exactly a reach to say that they will fall for pretty much anything. If the weepy, bleeding heart, butterflies, zebras, moonbeams and fairy tales crowd was gaga over the prospects of cigar store Indian Elizabeth Warren running for president, they are on the verge of a collective orgasm after Independent Bernie Sanders just announced his bid. Not that you can really blame them in this case considering that...more »

The blockbuster expose by a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist that the Obama regime was deliberately lying about the circumstances surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden has delivered what should be a knockout punch to Barry and his minions. Seymour Hersh, writing for the London Review of Books has launched a smoking bombshell into the Obama command bunker and the junta is in full damage control mode today. The Hersh article, “The Killing of Osama bin Laden” has resulted in a near national blackout of the story by the state-corporate media other than strident dismi...more »

There is a new American idol this morning as the NFL put it’s money where it’s mouth is and rolled out accused rapist, thief and general all around scumbag Jameis Winston as the number one pick in the draft. Oh lord how the money will roll in – his character has already been inserted into the newest version of Madden video football – and all of the phony contrition by the league over those domestic abuse cases are now exposed as nothing more than horseshit and hypocrisy. Despite all of the public relations pieces and spin to excuse their new merchandising cash cow's troubles as you...more »

The Obama administration and it’s intelligence apparatus pushed back hard today against allegations that they lied about circumstances surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden. After being caught with their pants down over the blockbuster expose by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh that the official account of the terror master’s death may have been manipulated for political gain it was a foregone conclusion that the Emperor would strike back. So this morning, the Obama junta launched a massive propaganda blitzkrieg and the corrupt mainstream media is...more »

Record $5.7bn (£3.6bn) fines for currency market fix: UBS, JPMorgan, Barclays, Citigroup and RBS US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that "almost every day" for five years from 2007, currency traders used a private electronic chat room to manipulate exchange rates. Their actions harmed "countless consumers, investors and institutions around the world", she said. "They engaged in a brazen '

Colbert's Wake. "Try to make the world good according to your standards," Colbert told the class. "It won’t be easy. Get ready for my generation to tell you everything that can’t be done — like ending racial tension, or getting money out of politics, or lowering the world’s carbon emissions. And we should know they can’t be done, after all, we’re the ones who didn’t do them. Your job, pro

Whitman Air Force Base staff pose in front of a fake Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster, December 18, 2007. (U.S. Air Force) Following through on its ongoing commitment to encourage hysteria and beat the drums of war, The Wall Street Journal posted what appeared to be an alarming headline on Friday, just one day after the framework of a multilateral diplomatic accord between Iran

Iranian parliamentarian Mohammad Hassan Asafari (FarsNews) Here we go again. Whenever a certain segment of conservative Iranian lawmakers feel frustrated with Western duplicity, arrogance, and bullying over Iran's nuclear program - usually due to patronizing demands made during negotiations, threats of new sanctions, or following the release of a biased IAEA report - they tend to do one of

. “S.S. GOOD MESSAGE, POWER & PEACE”. Posted on May 20, 2015 Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. May 20, 2015. It appears that The League of Nations, now known as the United Nations, is being seen for what it is. It’s the New World Order. It looks like the end is near for NATO and the bankers’ global fascist agenda. All Aboard! Confederacy sent Deskaheh to spread the Peace

Aerial photo of skimmer and oil spill courtesy of Joint Operation Center. Santa Barbara oil spill now stretches for 9 miles by Dan Bacher Censored News State and federal government crews continue to monitor the clean up of a big oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara as the size of the disaster has expanded. The spill from a ruptured pipeline owned by Plains All

[image: FentonGuguan_39] Here's the announcement from the Compass Page. 康百視美食音樂節延後 To all 2015 Compass Festival vendors, sponsors, musicians and other participants, Many of you have expressed concern regarding the heavy rain that Taichung and most of Taiwan has experienced from Wednesday and, according to the Central Weather Bureau’s extreme weather warnings, is expected to continue to Sunday or Monday. Festival organizers have been watching this situation very closely and, after much discussion with various participants and examination of the venue site, have decided to postpone t...more »

*On Writing Well author is remembered by a disciple* *William Zinsser, the author of OnWriting Well and 18 other books, in 1968* *"In On Writing Well, this is what Bill had to say about endings: 'When you're ready to stop, stop. If you have presented all the facts and made the point you want to make, look for the nearest exit.' "* *-- the conclusion of Mark Singer's"Tuesdays with Zinsser," on newyorker.com* *by Ken* Among the 19 books left behind by William Zinsser, who , you'd think I would at least have read *On Writing Well*, because wherever it was that I encountered him wri...more »

Yesterday morning, I left the office in Makati around 2:20-2:30am. I was going to our farm in Bugallon, Pangasinan. I took an an aircon bus going to QC around 2:30 am, I briefly slept. When I woke up somewhere in Cubao Farmers Plaza, I was shocked to see that my wallet is gone, my pant's right front pocket was slashed. First time in my life that I was victimized by bus thieves. I posted this in facebook, courtesy of bus wifi. I was supposed to cancel my trip as I have no more money to pay for the bus fare to Pangasinan. But I called up the farm caretaker and asked if he has money, ...more »

*Hitler? Or The Double?* *Post-July 20th 1944* THE ALLIED INVASION OF WESTERN EUROPE AND THE ATTEMPT TO KILL HITLER *The conspirators had made at least half a dozen attempts to assassinate Hitler during 1943, one of which had miscarried only when a time bomb, planted in the Fuehrer’s airplane during a flight behind the Russian front, failed to explode. * A considerable change had taken place that year in the resistance movement, such as it was. The plotters had finally given up on the field marshals. *They were simply too cowardly – or thickheaded – to use their position and m...more »

What do you mean, a *Thursday* morning ramble!? Simple answer: I’m off to Melbourne tomorrow to do a bit of business and watch the world’s most libertarian sport (not actually in that order), so you won’t hear from me until the final siren has gone. And certainly not tomorrow. So here’s a few things now that caught my eye recently … ------------------------------ UPDATE: Some Budget reaction that’s worth a damn: - “Benefits get more attractive relative to work. The increase to WFF does not offset the benefit increase. Bad thing.” *Government reduces incentive to move ...more »

“Giant elliptical galaxy M60 and spiral galaxy NGC 4647 do look like an odd couple in this sharp cosmic portrait from the Hubble Space Telescope. But they are found in a region of space where galaxies tend to gather, on the eastern side of the nearby Virgo Galaxy Cluster. * Click image for larger size.* About 54 million light-years distant, bright M60's simpler egg-like shape is created by its randomly swarming older stars, while NGC 4647's young blue stars, gas and dust are organized into winding arms rotating in a flattened disk. Spiral NGC 4647 is estimated to be more distant than...more »

*"What If You Slept"* "What if you slept, And what if In your sleep You dreamed, And what if In your dream You went to heaven And there plucked a strange and beautiful flower, And what if When you awoke You had that flower in your hand? Ah, what then?" - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.